Latest news with #AxelRudakubana
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
Yvette Cooper has pledged to change the law to treat people fixated on violence as seriously as terrorists in the wake of last year's Southport attack. The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
Yvette Cooper has pledged to change the law to treat people fixated on violence as seriously as terrorists in the wake of last year's Southport attack. The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Yvette Cooper to create new offence to cover non-terrorist planning of attacks
A new criminal offence is to be introduced to 'close the gap' between lone, violence-obsessed individuals with no particular ideology and terrorism suspects, the home secretary has said. Yvette Cooper said an offence that would give police the power to apprehend the former long before they acted was needed in the wake of the Southport attack last year. Terrorism suspects can be jailed for life even if their plans are not fully formed. Axel Rudakubana, then 17, stabbed three young girls to death at a summer holiday dance class in July last year and attempted to murder eight other children and two adults who tried to protect them. Cooper told BBC Radio 4's State of Terror series: 'There is a gap in the law around the planning of mass attacks that can be just as serious [as terrorism] in their implications for communities, their impact, the devastation that they can cause and the seriousness of the crime. 'We will tighten legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' She said police would get the power to prevent such individuals who did not have a clear ideology, in the same way they can with terrorism suspects. Under section 5 of the Terrorism Act, a person who engages in any conduct in preparation of a terrorist act is guilty of the offence, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. At the bottom end of the scale, the offence includes engaging in very limited preparation for terrorist activity but there must be a link to an ideological cause. Cooper said: 'We've seen cases of growing numbers of teenagers potentially radicalising themselves online and seeing all kinds of extremist material online in their bedrooms. 'They're seeing a really distorted and warped online world. 'We have to make sure that that the systems can respond while not taking our eye off the ball of the more longstanding ideological threats.' The Prevent anti-terrorism scheme declined to take on Rudakubana's case three times, after teachers raised concerns about him from 2019 to 2021, three years before he committed the atrocity. His first referral was from his teachers after he admitted bringing a knife into school on 10 occasions to 'stab someone', researched massacres of children at US schools and made 'graphic' comments about violence. He later said 'the [2017] terrorist attack on the MEN [Manchester Arena] was a good thing'. While there was concern about his interest in violence, Prevent concluded there was no sign it was driven by a terrorist ideology. A public inquiry into the Southport killings began this month. Its chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, said it would examine the 'wholesale failure' of institutions to prevent 'one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history'. He said he would consider whether courts should be given powers to impose restrictions on individuals known to pose a risk but when there was insufficient evidence to justify an arrest. Earlier this year, David Gauke's independent sentencing review said the introduction of new offences and longer sentences was one of the factors behind the prison overcrowding crisis
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Police to receive new powers to help prevent violent attacks
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed new powers for police and courts to deal with suspects planning mass killings. The new tools aim to close a legal gap between terror suspects, who face life imprisonment for planning attacks, and non-ideological individuals planning similar mass atrocities. Police will be empowered to apprehend suspects based on preparatory steps, such as research, even without an ideological link, mirroring existing anti- terrorism legislation. Cooper stated that mass attacks, regardless of ideological motivation, can cause devastation comparable to terrorism and should be treated with similar seriousness. The legislation could have applied to cases like the Southport attacker, Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls and received a life sentence. Criminals plotting mass killings to be detained earlier under new law
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Criminals plotting mass killings to be detained earlier under new law
Police and courts are to be given powers to deal with suspects believed to be planning mass killings, the Home Secretary has confirmed. Yvette Cooper said the new tools will enable the criminal justice system to "close the gap" between terror suspects, who face life imprisonment for planning attacks, and non-ideological individuals. Police will be empowered to apprehend them before attacks are carried out. In an interview, Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4 's State of Terror series: 'There is a gap in the law around the planning of mass attacks that can be just as serious (as terrorism) in their implications for communities, their impact, the devastation that they can cause and the seriousness of the crime. 'We will tighten legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' She said legislation would be similar to that which allows police to arrest terror suspects for steps taken to prepare for an attack, such as research, which is not currently available without links to an ideological cause. Ms Cooper added: 'We've seen cases of growing numbers of teenagers potentially radicalising themselves online and seeing all kinds of extremist material online in their bedrooms. 'We have to make sure that the systems can respond while not taking our eye off the ball of the more long-standing ideological threats.' Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana, who killed three girls at a dance class, is among the individuals who could have been covered by the legislation. Axel Rudakubana was given a life sentence in January, with a minimum term of 52 years – one of the highest minimum terms on record – for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year. The 18-year-old also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
